NC Green Industry Grows Economic Impact

According to a new report by NC State University researchers, North Carolina’s green industry is thriving, with an economic impact of $15.8 billion in 2023.

The direct economic impact of the green industry stretches from home lawn and garden care to public parks and even landscaping alongside highways and city roads. The ripple effect extends even farther to things like irrigation equipment and agricultural chemicals to support sod growers, or gravel and playground equipment for parks. 

The report, North Carolina Green Industry Contribution 2023-2024, examines growth and trends within the green industry between 2005 and 2023. NC State faculty Melinda Knuth, assistant professor of horticultural science, Daniel Tregeagle, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics, and Rajan Parajuli, associate professor of forestry and environmental resources, authored the report.

“The green industry in North Carolina is prospering,” Knuth says. “It’s having solid growth over time, and it’s very healthy.”

Funded by the North Carolina Joint Legislative Oversight Committee and produced in conjunction with the North Carolina Green Industry Council, the report showcases how a growing population, along with booming commercial and residential development, has bolstered the demand for green industry services in the following sectors:

• Landscaping services
• Lawn and garden equipment and supplies retailers
• Nursery and floriculture production
• Farm and garden machinery and equipment merchant wholesalers
• Flower, nursery, stock and florists’ supplies merchant wholesalers
• Florists
• Landscape architectural services
• Land and garden equipment manufacturing

“We’ve had a few million people move into North Carolina over the last 20 years, and many of them have lawns and yards and will want to have nice indoor plants. All of that is clearly contributing to spending and demand for green industry services and products,” Tregeagle says.

Direct employment in North Carolina has remained steady within the green industry over the past two decades while the economic impact has grown. Green industry jobs stayed largely flat between 2005 and 2023, increasing only slightly from approximately 60,000 to 65,745 full- and part-time jobs. Total economic impact measured in 2023 dollars, however, grew from $9.8 billion to $15.8 billion during the same time period. 

Tregeagle says the increase in economic impact points to functional and technological shifts that have improved efficiencies.

“The green industry has been finding ways to do more with the same amount of labor, presumably becoming more capital intensive and/or coming up with innovative management strategies or supply chain networks,” he says.

Perhaps the most tangible impact of the green industry is its contribution to the desirability of North Carolina, making the state known for its parks, gardens and aesthetic landscape. 

“We have so many people drawn here because our state is beautiful, and one of the reasons it is beautiful is because of the green industry,” Knuth says.

This post was originally published in College of Agriculture and Life Sciences News.